The pianists
Nick “The Doctor” Schlueter
(St. Louisan Owner/Pianist/Vocalist/Trumpeteer)
Nick Schlueter is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. Nick is one of the original Dueling Hobbits and co-owns Dueling Hobbits Productions. He earned his bachelor’s degree in composition from Webster University. He studied Jazz performance and composition with Peter Martin, Paul Demarinis, Dr. Michael Parkinson, Kim Portnoy, and Joachim Mencel. An active musician and keyboardist, he has performed with Pavlov’s Dog, Charles Glenn, Upright Cabaret, Naked Groove, Dawn Weber, and many others. As a composer, he has written songs, tunes, charts, and pieces for Pavlov’s Dog, Rich Landers (Jerry Lee Lewis, Tina Turner, Marty Ballen) Charles Glenn, Grace Church (Maryland Heights), and the Krakow Conservatory, among others.
Nick has been an active dueling piano player touring the country playing piano bars and leading entertainment at the Jive and Wail. Nick has an enormously diverse song list. His natural tenor voice lends itself well to covering Pop, Hip Hop, R&B, and artists such as Justin Timberlake, Adam Levine, Hall and Oates, Bruno Mars, Journey, R Kelley, and Eminem. His business, Dueling Hobbits Productions, books private events, helps develop entertainment for clubs, and helps to train dueling piano players to better learn their craft and get hired.
Nick resides with his beautiful wife and their cuddly puppy in St. Louis, MO where he performs regularly, teaches at Webster University, and manages the midwest and east coast markets of Dueling Hobbits Productions.
Shannon “Shamwise” Bengford
(Portlandia Owner/Pianist/Vocalist)
Shannon Bengford is a musician and a die hard Packer Fan from Wisconsin. He is one of the original Dueling Hobbits and co-owns Dueling Hobbits Productions. Shannon received his bachelor of arts degree in classical piano and composition from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Since graduating in 2001, Shannon has filled his days teaching music, directing choirs and musicals, composing, arranging, performing in various corporate cover bands and tribute shows featuring music by Queen, Elton John, Jimmy Buffett, The Bee Gees, Stevie Wonder, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, and Roy Orbison. He performed keyboards in a contemporary worship band for nine years at Grace Church in Maryland Heights, MO.
Shannon has been a traveling Dueling Pianist since 2010. He is a co-owner of Dueling Hobbits Productions, an entertainment company that provides dueling piano training and piano entertainment for all occasions at public and private events nationwide. He would love to get you singing along to your favorite song request, celebrate with you, or better yet, get you up on stage with him during a show! If you like oldies, classic rock, 80’s hair bands, one hit wonders, cheesy versions of gangster rap, or country music, Shannon is the man for these requests.
He currently resides with his wife, their four little hobbits, and their pet turtle named "Shire" in Portland, Oregon where he performs regularly and manages the west coast market of Dueling Hobbits Productions.
Rob “The Captain” Kirkpatrick
(Nashvillian Manger/Pianist/Vocalist)
Rob Kirkpatrick is a performer from Nashville, Tennessee, and holds a degree in music from Belmont University. He has been playing piano for over 20 years and is a veteran Church and Wedding Musician. As a Dueling Piano player, Captain Rob has entertained crowds at piano bars and private events nationwide. He loves engaging diverse groups of people and getting them to dance, sing, and clap along to all the great song requests. As a native southerner, Rob has a natural ability at singing country music like a true Nashvillian, although his diverse range allows him to play in broad styles from Frank Sinatra to Journey to Snoop Dogg. Rob and his wife live in the Nashville with their cat and dog and little trekkie in training. “The Captain” Kirkpatrick completed the Hobbit Training Program and now runs the Southern Midwest Office for all the Hobbit shows out of Nashville.
Chris “The Troubadour” Swan
(St. Louisan Pianist/Vocalist)
Chris “The Troubadour” Swan is a crowd favorite at numerous hotspots across the St. Louis area. Landing his first gig at the age of 12, he’s been going strong ever since.
Residing in St. Louis MO, being a singer, rapper, piano player, trumpet player and writer brought along many opportunities. This all progressed into numerous bands and projects before he started the LP Outsiders in college (where he studied piano performance). LP Outsiders toured the country and put out 4 albums over 8 years of being together.
This band brought along many opportunities including signing a major publishing deal with Windswept Pacific, appearing on the Three To Tango movie soundtrack, appearing on the Disney Channel with 98 Degrees and opening for Culture Club, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Cherry Poppin’ Daddy’s, Vitamin C and touring with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Chris also got the chance to play at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, played trumpet on a b-side on Natalie Imbruglia’s multi-platinum selling single to “Torn,” and has written with Robbie Nevil (“Ce La Vie”).
After LP Outsiders called it quits, Chris entered the world of piano entertaining, as well as pursuing his own jazz/soul/hiphop cover band The Sky West Trio. He also plays all over St. Louis with trumpet great Jim Manley. Chris has performed all over the world, becoming a crowd favorite in bars all over St. Louis as well as the Caribbean including Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, St. Maarten and St. Kitts. Music is Chris’ passion as well as his full-time job. In addition to performing and teaching piano lessons, Chris is also the founder of Soul Motivation Records- a record label that delivers motivational hip-hop and R&B music!
Kevin “The Fire-Eater” Guitron
(Seattleite Pianist/Vocalist)
Kevin has been playing piano since he was 12 years old. He comes from a family of piano players and has been surrounded by music and inspiration his entire life. With the help of his Dad, he worked through some basic piano books and was self taught in how to read music.
After marrying his high school sweetheart, Kevin took a job as a firefighter in Bellevue and they have been there ever since. It was on a vacation trip to Myrtle Beach, SC that sparked his interest in dueling pianos. After watching his first show he was hooked. Upon returning home, Kevin put all of his music books away and started re-learning how to play piano. It was a style that allowed for total freedom and the ability to memorize literally hundreds of songs without being forced to have endless piles of sheet music in front of him.
Now, you can find Kevin playing everything from solo piano shows in dive bars around town to dueling piano shows all over the NorthWest. He is getting booked for fundraising events, weddings and the usual bar gigs. His favorite song to play really depends on the moment and the crowd. Over the past 5 years, he has grown to love entertaining and that means playing whatever will have the greatest effect on the crowd.
Whether it’s playing a song from the top 40 charts so a younger crowd can sing and dance or a jazz standard to please an older demographic, his show is all about reading the crowd and making everybody feel like they are a part of the show.
Kevin brings a vibrant amount of energy to his performances. You’ll often see him running through the crowd, jumping up on speakers, or dashing across the grand pianos getting the crowd all fired up!
Michelle “The Elven Dancing Queen” Bonacquisti
(Portlandia Pianist/Vocalist)
Michelle Bonacquisti has been doing dueling pianos since 2017 and trained with our own Nick Schlueter through the Hobbit Training Program. Aside from piano dueling, she is a singer/songwriter and records her own music that is out on all music platforms. Michelle is a dancer and choreographer as well. She has been a performer in the shows at Six Flags St. Louis for 3 years. Michelle has a passion for music and for performing, which makes the Dueling Hobbits a perfect fit!
Steven “El Matador” Ramirez
(Californian Pianist/Vocalist)
Steven is a Southern California native who started playing music in bands that toured Hawaii for 3 years. Since then he has been a full time dueler for 6 years and has loved every minute of it. He has played numerous clubs and has traveled from coast to coast doing corporate shows. Whether it's a wedding in Montana, a fundraiser in Nebraska or a birthday party in New Jersey, Steven has played them all and has enjoyed entertaining every audience. The biggest highlight would be hosting a dueling piano show live on the waters at Disneyland on New Years Eve for a sold out park. Steven believes that crowd interaction is what makes a great show. He has a wide song catalog that ranges from The Beatles to Justin Bieber. He loves to play your favorite songs and do fun bits to engage the audience. You can't miss Steven, he's the one with the curly mustache and very stylish hat.
Evelyn “The Elven Enchantress” Szal
(Seattleite Pianist/Vocalist/Kazoo Artist/Ukelelean)
Evelyn Szal's first babysitter was a piano when she was 6 months old - so long as her mom could hear her banging on the keys, she knew she wasn't getting into other shenanigans. Since then, she started singing, playing violin, and joining every potential music group, which has had her perform across the US and the world, be it New York, New Orleans, Brazil, Barcelona, or Disney World. She can't remember a time when she wasn't taking requests and leading singalongs, so when she walked into a dueling piano bar for the first time, she knew she had found her musical home. In addition to dueling pianos, Evelyn has played at corporate events, orchestras, theaters, wine bars, and weddings. When not at the keys or breaking out a killer kazoo solo, you can find her singing on the top of the nearest mountain with her ukulele.
Jim “The Lyrical Leviathan” Fischer
(Portlandia Pianist/Vocalist)
Jim Fischer is an award-winning pianist, composer, producer, recording artist and entertainer. He is known for his extensive repertoire and an expressive musical touch that he has finely honed for more than four decades. His fan base stretches from the Pacific Northwest to audiences across the globe.
Early in his career, Jim studied jazz piano and classical piano, while also playing in pop bands. He later expanded into performing hits from Broadway and film. As a child he was introduced to the beauty of church music, which continues to inspire him. This exposure to a broad spectrum of music genres allows Jim to combine these influences into a unique style of piano playing, composing, arranging, and musical entertaining that reflects his creative and innovative personality.
For over fourteen years, Jim has been entertaining on cruise ships, most notably with Holland America Line. His destinations include Alaska, Mexico, the Panama Canal, Caribbean Islands, South America, Antarctica, Northern Europe, and the Mediterranean Sea.
When he is at home, you can find him performing in local venues, such at the Portland City Grill and other nightspots as noted on his website. His talent is in high demand for private and corporate events, including dueling piano shows. In addition to his live performances, Jim runs Music Box Productions, producing studio recordings for various clients. Jim has ten CDS and one DVD of his own. His recordings are available on his website and on iTunes.
Jim and his wife Marcia live in Vancouver, Washington, USA.
Lark “The Melodious Gypsy” Knowles
(Californian Pianist/Vocalist)
Originally from New Jersey, Lark Knowles trained in vocals and drama at the America Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC. After moving to Las Vegas to attend university, it wasn't long before she found her way back to the stage by way of dueling pianos, learning the instrument at the age of 24. Soon after Lark was working regularly at Harrah's Piano Bar, and the world famous NY NY Bar at Times Square. She now calls San Clemente, CA home and travels throughout the US and Canada as a career musician, entertaining and loving every minute of it! Some of her corporate clients include Morgan Stanley, IBM, Audi, Wounded Warrior Project, Arbonne, The Reserve- Palm Desert, Allstate Insurance, Sysco, Pepperdine University Law School, Taylor Farms, General Electric, Interstate Battery, AT&T Presidents club and many more.
Jacob “The Maestro Kingcrusher” Hoglund
(Portlandia Pianist/Vocalist)
Jacob Hoglund is a musician native to Portland Oregon. He has a degree in music composition from George Fox University. Jacob began playing in church at the age of 13. Now he regularly performs a wide range of styles from opera to jazz, and works with children and adults teaching piano and voice. In addition to being a dueling pianist he works as musical theater accompanist at George Fox University and CYT. Jacob enjoys fishing and hiking during his free time and is a competitive chess player.
